Method for isolation of nucleic acid containing particles and extraction of nucleic acids therefrom

ABSTRACT

A method for extracting nucleic acids from a biological sample by isolating nucleic acid-containing particles from the biological sample by one or more centrifugation procedures, performing one or more steps to mitigate adverse factors that prevent or might prevent high quality nucleic acid extraction, and extracting nucleic acids from the isolated particles. The centrifugation procedures are performed at a speed not exceeding about 200,000 g. The extracted nucleic acids contain both 18S and 28S rRNA.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/883,673, which is a national stage application, filed under 35 USC § 371, of PCT Application No. PCT/US2011/060251, filed Nov. 10, 2011, which claims priority to U.S. provisional application No. 61/412,369, filed Nov. 10, 2010, the contents of each of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to the general fields of nucleic acid extraction from a biological sample, particularly the isolation of nucleic acid-containing particles from body fluids and extraction of nucleic acids from the isolated particles.

BACKGROUND

Small microvesicles shed by cells are often described as “exosomes” (Thery et al., 2002). Exosomes are reported as having a diameter of approximately 30-100 nm and are shed from many different cell types under both normal and pathological conditions (Thery et al., 2002). Exosomes are classically formed from the inward invagination and pinching off of the late endosomal membrane. This results in the formation of a multivesicular body (MVB) laden with small lipid bilayer vesicles, each of which contains a sample of the parent cell's cytoplasm (Stoorvogel et al., 2002). Fusion of the MVB with the cell membrane results in the release of these exosomes from the cell, and their delivery into the blood, urine, cerebrospinal fluid, or other bodily fluids.

Another category of cell-derived microvesicles are formed by directly budding off of the cell's plasma membrane, are usually larger in size than exosomes, and like exosomes, also contain a sample of the parent cell's cytoplasm (Cocucci et al., 2009) (Orozco and Lewis, 2010).

Recent studies reveal that nucleic acids within microvesicles have a role as biomarkers. For example, WO 2009/100029 describes, among other things, the use of nucleic acids extracted from microvesicles in GBM patient serum for medical diagnosis, prognosis and therapy evaluation. WO 2009/100029 also describes the use of nucleic acids extracted from microvesicles in human urine for the same purposes. The use of nucleic acids extracted from microvesicles is considered to potentially circumvent the need for biopsies, highlighting the enormous diagnostic potential of microvesicle biology (Skog et al., 2008).

Several methods of isolating microvesicles from a biological sample have been described in the art. For example, a method of differential centrifugation is described in a paper by Raposo et al. (Raposo et al., 1996), a paper by Skog et. al. (Skog et al., 2008) and a paper by Nilsson et. al. (Nilsson et al., 2009). Methods of anion exchange and/or gel permeation chromatography are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,899,863 and 6,812,023. Methods of sucrose density gradients or organelle electrophoresis are described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,198,923. A method of magnetic activated cell sorting (MACS) is described in a paper by Taylor and Gercel-Taylor (Taylor and Gercel-Taylor, 2008). A method of nanomembrane ultrafiltration concentration is described in a paper by Cheruvanky et al. (Cheruvanky et al., 2007). A method of Percoll gradient isolation is described in a publication by Miranda et. al (Miranda et al., 2010). Further, microvesicles may be identified and isolated from bodily fluid of a subject by a microfluidic device (Chen et al., 2010).

In research and development, as well as commercial applications of nucleic acid biomarkers, it is desirable to extract high quality nucleic acids from biological samples in a consistent, reliable, and practical manner. An object of the present invention is therefore to provide a method for quick and easy isolation of nucleic acid-containing particles from biological samples such as body fluids and extraction of high quality nucleic acids from the isolated particles. The method of the invention may be suitable for adaptation and incorporation into a compact device or instrument for use in a laboratory or clinical setting, or in the field.

SUMMARY

The present invention is based on our discovery that low speed centrifugation can be used to pellet particles from a biological sample and extract high quality nucleic acids from the particles. In one aspect, the invention is a method for extracting nucleic acids by isolating nucleic acid-containing particles from a biological sample by one or more centrifugation procedures at a speed not exceeding about 200,000 g, performing one or more steps to mitigate adverse factors that prevent or might prevent high quality nucleic acid extraction; and extracting nucleic acids from the isolated particles.

In some embodiments, the centrifugation procedures are performed at speeds of about 2,000 g to about 200,000 g. In other embodiments, the centrifugation procedures are performed at speeds not exceeding about 50,000 g. In still other embodiments, the centrifugation procedures are performed at speeds not exceeding about 20,000 g. In some embodiments, the method is used to extract nucleic acids from microvesicles, RNA-protein complexes, DNA-protein complexes, or a combination of any of microvesicles, RNA-protein complexes, and DNA-protein complexes.

In some embodiments, the biological sample is a body fluid, for example, a serum or a urine sample from a subject. The subject, for example, can be a human or other mammal. The extracted nucleic acids can be RNA, DNA, or both RNA and DNA. In some further embodiments, the nucleic acids thus extracted contain one or more polynucleotides which are more than 90% homologous to a nucleic acid sequence corresponding to EGFR, BRAF, KLK3, 18S, GAPDH, HPRT1, GUSB, ACTB, B2M, RPLP0, HMBS, TBP, PGK1, IJBC, PPIA, ALCAM, C5AR1, CD160, CD163, CD19, CD1A, CD1C, CD1D, CD2, CD209, CD22, CD24, CD244, CD247, CD28, CD37, CD38, CD3D, CD3G, CD4, CD40, CD40LG, CD5, CD6, CD63, CD69, CD7, CD70, CD72, CD74, CD79A, CD79B, CD80, CD83, CD86, CD8A, CD8B, CD96, CHST10, COL1A1, COL1A2, CR2, CSFIR, CTLA4, DPP4, ENG, FAS, FCER1A, FCER2, FCGR1A/FCGR1B/FCGR1C, HLA-A/HLA-A29.1, HLA-DRA, ICAM2, IL12RB1, IL1R2, IL2RA, ITGA1, ITGA2, ITGA3, KLRB1, KLRC1, KLRD1, KRT18, KRT5, KRT8/LOC728638, MS4A1, MYH10, MYH9, MYOCD, NCAM1, NOS3, NT5E, PECAM1, RETN, S100A8, SELP, ST6GAL1, EPCAM, TEK, TNFRSF4, TNFRSF8, TPSAB1/TPSB2, VCAM1, or VWF.

In some embodiments, 18S rRNA and 28S rRNA are detectable in the extracted nucleic acids. In some instances, the ratio of the amount of 18S rRNA to the amount of 28S rRNA as detected in the extracted nucleic acids is about 0.5 to about 1.0. In other instances, the ratio of the amount of 18S rRNA to the amount of 28S rRNA as detected in the extracted nucleic acids is about 0.5.

In some embodiments, the step of performing one or more steps to mitigate adverse factors is achieved by treating the biological sample and/or the isolated particles with DNase, RNase inhibitor, or both DNase and RNase inhibitors. In certain embodiments, the step of performing one or more steps to mitigate adverse factors is achieved by a step of treating the biological sample with RNase inhibitor before isolating the particles.

In another aspect, the present invention is a nucleic acid sample obtained from a biological sample by the any of above described methods. The nucleic acid sample thus obtained can be used in various applications. In some embodiments, the above method and resulting nucleic acid sample are used for aiding in the diagnosis of a subject by determining the presence or absence of a biomarker within the nucleic acid sample that is associated with a known disease or other medical condition. In other embodiments, the above method and resulting nucleic acid sample are used for monitoring the progress or reoccurrence of a disease or other medical condition in a subject by determining the presence or absence of a biomarker with in the sample that is associated with the progress or reoccurrence of a known stage or the reoccurrence of a disease or other medical condition. In still other embodiments, the above method and resulting nucleic acid sample are used in the evaluation of treatment efficacy for a subject undergoing or contemplating treatment for a disease or other medical condition by determining the presence or absence of a biomarker within the sample that is associated with treatment efficacy for the subject undergoing or contemplating treatment for a disease or other medical condition.

In some further embodiments, the biomarker detected in the above applications is a nucleic acid corresponding to any one or more of the genes consisting of EGFR, BRAF, KLK3, 18S, GAPDH, HPRT1, GUSB, ACTB, B2M, RPLP0, HMBS, TBP, PGK1, UBC, PPIA, ALCAM, C5AR1, CD160, CD163, CD19, CD1A, CD1C, CD1D, CD2, CD209, CD22, CD24, CD244, CD247, CD28, CD37, CD38, CD3D, CD3G, CD4, CD40, CD40LG, CD5, CD6, CD63, CD69, CD7, CD70, CD72, CD74, CD79A, CD79B, CD80, CD83, CD86, CD8A, CD8B, CD96, CHST10, COL1A1, COL1A2, CR2, CSF1R, CTLA4, DPP4, ENG, FAS, FCER1A, FCER2, FCGR1A/FCGR1B/FCGR1C, HLA-A/HLA-A29.1, HLA-DRA, ICAM2, IL12RB1, IL1R2, IL2RA, ITGA1, ITGA2, ITGA3, KLRB1, KLRC1, KLRD1, KRT18, KRT5, KRT8/LOC728638, MS4A1, MYH10, MYH9, MYOCD, NCAM1, NOS3, NT5E, PECAM1, RETN, S100A8, SELP, ST6GAL1, EPCAM, TEK, TNFRSF4, TNFRSF8, TPSAB1/TPSB2, VCAM1, and VWF.

Yet another aspect of the invention is a kit for use in the above methods. The kit may include RNase inhibitor in a quantity sufficient to mitigate adverse factors that prevent or might prevent high quality nucleic acid extraction, and an RNA purification reagent. The kit may optionally further include a lysis buffer, DNase, or instructions for using the kit and reagent in it in the extraction of nucleic acids from isolated particles.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C are Bioanalyzer plots depicting the analysis of nucleic acids extracted from particles isolated from serum samples as described in Examples 1, 2 and 3, respectively. The pseudogel in FIG. 1A depicts the content of the same nucleic acid extraction as depicted in the Bioanalyzer plot of FIG. 1A. The plots and the pseudogel were generated by an RNA pico chip run on an Agilent Bioanalyzer.

FIG. 2 is a Bioanalyzer plot depicting the analysis of nucleic acids extracted from particles isolated from a urine sample, as described in Example 5 below, and a pseudogel depicting the content of the same nucleic acid extraction. The plot and the pseudogel were generated by an Agilent Bioanalyzer.

FIG. 3 is a Bioanalyzer plot depicting the analysis of nucleic acids extracted from particles isolated from serum samples in group A, Example 4 (20,000 g centrifugation speed).

FIG. 4 is a Bioanalyzer plot depicting the analysis of nucleic acids extracted from particles isolated from serum samples in group B, Example 5 (120,000 g centrifugation speed).

FIG. 5 is a plot depicting the comparison of Ct values for genes analyzed with the Taqman PCR array as between group A (Y-axis) and group B (X-axis) in Example 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As described above, cell-derived vesicles are heterogeneous in size with diameters ranging from about 10 nm to about 5000 nm. For example, “exosomes” have diameters of approximately 30 to 100 nm, with shedding microvesicles and apoptotic bodies often described as larger (Orozco and Lewis, 2010). Exosomes, shedding microvesicles, microparticles, nanovesicles, apoptotic bodies, nanoparticles and membrane vesicles co-isolate using various techniques and will, therefore, collectively be referred to throughout this specification as “microvesicles” unless otherwise expressly denoted.

Other nucleic acid-containing particles, e.g., RNA-protein complexes and DNA-protein complexes, may co-isolate with microvesicles using the various methods and techniques described herein. Accordingly, the generic term “particles” will be used herein to refer to microvescles, RNA-protein complexes, DNA-protein complexes, and any other nucleic acid-containing particles that could be isolated according to the methods and techniques described herein. The methods and techniques described herein are equally applicable to the isolation of RNA-protein complexes, DNA-protein complexes, or other nucleic acid-containing particles, and microvesicles of all sizes (either as a whole, as select subsets, or as individual species).

The present invention is partly based on the discovery that lower centrifugation speeds can achieve similar results as higher centrifugation speeds during nucleic acid-containing particle isolation. As such, in one aspect, the present invention is directed to novel methods for isolating particles from a biological sample and extracting nucleic acids from the isolated particles. The nucleic acid extractions obtained by the methods described herein may be useful for various applications in which high quality nucleic acid extractions are required or preferred.

As used herein, the term “high quality” in reference to nucleic acid extraction means an extraction in which one is able to detect 18S and 28S rRNA, preferably in a ratio of approximately 1:1 to approximately 1:2; and more preferably, approximately 1:2. Ideally, high quality nucleic acid extractions obtained by the methods described herein will also have an RNA integrity number of greater than or equal to 5 for a low protein biological sample (e.g., urine), or greater than or equal to 3 for a high protein biological sample (e.g., serum), and a nucleic acid yield of greater than or equal to 50 pg/ml from a 20 ml low protein biological sample or a 1 ml high protein biological sample.

High quality RNA extractions are desirable because RNA degradation can adversely affect downstream assessment of the extracted RNA, such as in gene expression and mRNA analysis, as well as in analysis of non-coding RNA such as small RNA and microRNA. The new methods described herein enable one to extract high quality nucleic acids from particles isolated from a biological sample so that an accurate analysis of nucleic acids within the particles can be carried out.

Broadly described, the novel methods include, for example, the steps of obtaining a biological sample; isolating nucleic acid-containing particles from the biological sample by one or more centrifugation steps; mitigating or removing adverse factors that prevent high quality extraction of nucleic acids from the sample; and extracting nucleic acids from the isolated particles; followed, optionally, by nucleic acid analysis. The centrifugation step or steps may be performed at relatively low speeds as compared to traditional methods of isolating particles from biological samples by centrifugation. None of the centrifugation steps in the inventive methods described herein may exceed about 200,000 g.

Suitable centrifugation speeds are up to about 200,000 g; for example from about 2,000 g to less than about 200,000 g. Speeds of above about 15,000 g and less than about 200,000 g or above about 15,000 g and less than about 100,000 g or above about 15,000 g and less than about 50,000 g are preferred. Speeds of from about 18,000 g to about 40,000 g or about 30,000 g; and from about 18,000 g to about 25,000 g are more preferred. Particularly preferred is a centrifugation speed of about 20,000 g.

The methods described herein may be used with a variety of commercially available centrifuge machines and for the purpose of isolating various species of particles. A person of skill in the art will be able to use the well known K-factor to optimize the centrifugation parameters for a particular centrifuge device selected for use in the method. For example, the K-factor, which denotes the clearing factor of a centrifuge rotor at maximum rotation speed, may be used to determine the time (“T”) required for pelleting a fraction with a known sedimentation coefficient (“S”). The lower the K-factor, the more efficient the pelleting with any given centrifuge device. The K-factor can be calculated by the following formula: K=2.53*10¹¹*ln(r _(max) /r _(min)]/RPM², wherein r_(max) is the maximum radius from the centrifuge's axis of rotation, and r_(min) is the minimum radius from the axis of rotation. The r_(max) and r_(min) are usually available from the centrifuge manufacturer. RPM is the speed in revolutions per minute. The K-factor is related to the sedimentation coefficient S by the formula: T=K/S, where T is the time to pellet a certain particle in hours. Where S is a known constant for a certain particle, this relationship can be used to interconvert between different rotors using the following formula: T ₁ /K ₁ =T ₂ /K ₂, where T₁ is the time to pellet in one rotor, and K₁ is the K-factor of that rotor, K₂ is the K-factor of the other rotor, and T₂, the time to pellet in the other rotor. If one knows K₁, T₁, and can calculate K₂, then T₂ may be determined. In this manner, one does not need access to the exact centrifuge rotor cited in a particular protocol, as long as the K-factor can be calculated. If the sedimentation constant (S) is unknown for a particular substance to be pelleted, then one of skill in the art may determine T₂ based on empirical data as to T₁ for the same substance and calculation of K₂ for the different rotor.

Generally, suitable K factors are within the range of about 300 to about 1000; preferably within the range of about 400 to about 600; and more preferably about 520.

Generally, suitable times for centrifugation are from about 5 minutes to about 2 hours, for example, from about 10 minutes to about 1.5 hours, or more preferably from about 15 minutes to about 1 hour. A time of about 0.5 hours is sometimes preferred.

It is sometimes preferred to subject the biological sample to centrifugation at about 20,000 g for about 0.5 hours. However the above speeds and times can suitably be used in any combination (e.g., from about 18,000 g to about 25,000 g, or from about 30,000 g to about 40,000 g for about 10 minutes to about 1.5 hours, or for about 15 minutes to about 1 hour, or for about 0.5 hours, and so on).

The centrifugation step or steps may be carried out at below-ambient temperatures, for example at about 0-10° C., preferably about 1-5° C., e.g., about 3° C. or about 4° C.

As used herein, the term “biological sample” refers to a sample that contains biological materials such as a DNA, a RNA and a protein. In some embodiments, the biological sample may suitably comprise a bodily fluid from a subject. The bodily fluids can be fluids isolated from anywhere in the body of the subject, preferably a peripheral location, including but not limited to, for example, blood, plasma, serum, urine, sputum, spinal fluid, cerebrospinal fluid, pleural fluid, nipple aspirates, lymph fluid, fluid of the respiratory, intestinal, and genitourinary tracts, tear fluid, saliva, breast milk, fluid from the lymphatic system, semen, cerebrospinal fluid, intra-organ system fluid, ascitic fluid, tumor cyst fluid, amniotic fluid and combinations thereof. In some embodiments, the preferred body fluid for use as the biological sample is urine. In other embodiments, the preferred body fluid is serum. In still other embodiments, the preferred body fluid is cerebrospinal fluid.

Suitably a sample volume of about 0.1 ml to about 30 ml fluid may be used. The volume of fluid may depend on a few factors, e.g., the type of fluid used. For example, the volume of serum samples may be about 0.1 ml to about 2 ml, preferably about 1 ml. The volume of urine samples may be about 10 ml to about 30 ml, preferably about 20 ml.

The term “subject” is intended to include all animals shown to or expected to have nucleic acid-containing particles. In particular embodiments, the subject is a mammal, a human or nonhuman primate, a dog, a cat, a horse, a cow, other farm animals, or a rodent (e.g. mice, rats, guinea pig, etc.). A human subject may be a normal human being without observable abnormalities, e.g., a disease. A human subject may be a human being with observable abnormalities, e.g., a disease. The observable abnormalities may be observed by the human being himself, or by a medical professional. The term “subject”, “patient”, and “individual” are used interchangeably herein.

The biological sample may be pre-processed before isolating nucleic acid-containing particles. In some instances, a pre-processing step is preferred. For example, a urine sample may be pre-processed to obtain urinary nucleic acid-containing particles. The pre-processing may be achieved by techniques known in the art such as differential centrifugation or filtration. For example, urine samples may undergo a first centrifugation step of about 300 g to get rid of large particles and debris in the samples. Urine samples may then undergo a second centrifugation step of about 5,000 g to about 20,000 g (larger volume centrifuged-higher k-factor) to get rid of unwanted particles that did not pellet in the previous centrifugation step, but without pelleting nucleic acid-containing particles that are desired in the final analysis. After the second centrifugation step, urine samples may further undergo a filtration step, e.g., 0.8 μm, 0.45 μm, or 0.22 μm filtration step to further rid the sample of unwanted materials. Alternatively, urine samples may be pre-processed by a filtration step without first undergoing the one or more of the centrifugation steps.

Generally therefore the biological sample may be pre-processed by centrifuging at a low speed of about 100-500 g, preferably about 250-300 g, to remove large unwanted particles and debris in the sample. Alternatively or additionally the biological sample may be pre-processed by centrifuging at a higher speed of about 10,000-20,000 g, preferably 15,000-19,000 g, to remove unwanted particles and substances in the sample. Where both centrifugation pre-processing steps are performed, the biological sample may be centrifuged first at the lower speed and then at the higher speed. If desired, further suitable centrifugation pre-processing steps may be carried out. For example, the step of centrifugation may be repeated for further pre-processing the samples. Alternatively or in addition to the one or more centrifugation pre-processing steps, the biological sample may be filtered. A filter having a size in the range about 0.1 to about 1.0 μm may be employed, preferably about 0.5 to about 1.0 μm, e.g. about 0.7 μm or about 0.8 μm.

The isolation step is advantageous for the extraction of high quality nucleic acids from a biological sample for the following reasons: 1) extracting nucleic acids from particles provides the opportunity to selectively analyze disease- or tumor-specific nucleic acids, which may be obtained by isolating disease- or tumor-specific particles apart from other particles within the fluid sample; 2) nucleic acid-containing particles such as microvesicles produce significantly higher yields of nucleic acid species with higher integrity as compared to the yield/integrity obtained by extracting nucleic acids directly from the fluid sample without first isolating microvesicles; 3) scalability, e.g. to detect nucleic acids expressed at low levels, the sensitivity can be increased by pelleting more nucleic acid-containing particles from a larger volume of serum; 4) purer nucleic acids in that protein and lipids, debris from dead cells, and other potential contaminants and PCR inhibitors are excluded from the pellets before the nucleic acid extraction step; and 5) more choices in nucleic acid extraction methods as pellets are of much smaller volume than that of the starting serum, making it possible to extract nucleic acids from these pellets using small volume column filters.

In one embodiment, the method of isolating particles from a body fluid and extracting nucleic acids from the isolated particles may comprise the steps of: removing cells from the body fluid either by low speed centrifugation and/or filtration though a 0.8 μm filter; centrifuging the supernatant/filtrate at about 20,000 g for about 0.5 hour at about 4° C. using about 1 ml sample volume; treating the pellet with a pre-lysis solution, e.g., an RNase inhibitor and/or a pH buffered solution and/or a protease enzyme in sufficient quantities (as described below); and lysing the pellet for nucleic acid extraction. In one embodiment, the process of isolating particles and extracting high quality nucleic acids may be achieved within 90 minutes.

Following isolation, nucleic acid may be extracted from the pelleted particles. To achieve this, in some embodiments, the particles may first be lysed. The lysis of particles such as microvesicles in the pellet and extraction of nucleic acids may be achieved with various methods known in the art. In one embodiment, the lysis and extraction steps may be achieved using a commercially available Qiagen RNeasy Plus kit. In another embodiment, the lysis and extraction steps may be achieved using a commercially available Qiagen miRNeasy kit. In yet another embodiment, the nucleic acid extraction may be achieved using phenol:chloroform according to standard procedures and techniques known in the art.

According to the present invention, the novel nucleic acid extraction methods include the step of removing or mitigating adverse factors that prevent high quality nucleic acid extraction from a biological sample. Such adverse factors are heterogeneous in that different biological samples may contain various species of adverse factors. In some biological samples, factors such as excessive DNA may affect the quality of nucleic acid extractions from such samples. In other samples, factors such as excessive endogenous RNase may affect the quality of nucleic acid extractions from such samples. Many agents and methods may be used to remove these adverse factors. These methods and agents are referred to collectively herein as an “extraction enhancement operations.”

In some instances, the extraction enhancement operation may involve the addition of nucleic acid extraction enhancement agents to the biological sample. To remove adverse factors such as endogenous RNases, such extraction enhancement agents as defined herein may include, but are not limited to, an RNase inhibitor such as Superase-In (commercially available from Ambion Inc.) or RNaseINplus (commercially available from Promega Corp.), or other agents that function in a similar fashion; a protease (which may function as an RNase inhibitor); DNase; a reducing agent; a decoy substrate such as a synthetic RNA and/or carrier RNA; a soluble receptor that can bind RNase; a small interfering RNA (siRNA); an RNA binding molecule, such as an anti-RNA antibody, a basic protein or a chaperone protein; an RNase denaturing substance, such as a high osmolarity solution, a detergent, or a combination thereof. These enhancement agents may exert their functions in various ways, e.g., through inhibiting RNase activity (e.g., RNase inhibitors), through a ubiquitous degradation of proteins (e.g., proteases), or through a chaperone protein (e.g., a RNA-binding protein) that binds and protects RNAs. In all instances, such extraction enhancement agents remove or at least mitigate some or all of the adverse factors in the biological sample or associated with the isolated particles that would otherwise prevent or interfere with the high quality extraction of nucleic acids from the isolated particles.

For example, the extraction enhancement operation may include the addition of an RNase inhibitor to the biological sample, and/or to the isolated particle fraction, prior to extracting nucleic acid; preferably the RNase inhibitor has a concentration of greater than 0.027 AU (1×) for a sample equal to or more than 1 μl in volume; alternatively, greater than or equal to 0.135 AU (5×) for a sample equal to or more than 1 μl; alternatively, greater than or equal to 0.27 AU (10×) for a sample equal to or more than 1 μl; alternatively, greater than or equal to 0.675 AU (25×) for a sample equal to or more than 1 μl; and alternatively, greater than or equal to 1.35 AU (50×) for a sample equal to or more than 1 μl; wherein the 1× concentration refers to an enzymatic condition wherein 0.027 AU or more RNase inhibitor is used to treat particles isolated from 1 μl or more bodily fluid, the 5× concentration refers to an enzymatic condition wherein 0.135 AU or more RNase inhibitor is used to treat particles isolated from 1 μl or more bodily fluid, the 10× protease concentration refers to an enzymatic condition wherein 0.27 AU or more RNase inhibitor is used to treat particles isolated from 1 μl or more bodily fluid, the 25× concentration refers to an enzymatic condition wherein 0.675 AU or more RNase inhibitor is used to treat particles isolated from 1 μl or more bodily fluid, and the 50× protease concentration refers to an enzymatic condition wherein 1.35 AU or more RNase inhibitor is used to treat particles isolated from 1 μl or more bodily fluid. Preferably, the RNase inhibitor is a protease, in which case, 1 AU is the protease activity that releases folin-positive amino acids and peptides corresponding to 1 μmol tyrosine per minute.

One surprising manifestation of the high quality nucleic acid extraction using the new method of the present invention is the ability to detect in an extraction of nucleic acids from particles such as microvesicles the existence of significant quantities of ribosomal RNA (rRNA). No prior studies are known to have demonstrated the detection of 18S and 28S rRNAs in nucleic acid extractions from particles. On the contrary, prior studies suggested that no or little rRNA is present in nucleic acid extracts from microvcsicles (Skog et al., 2008; Taylor and Gercel-Taylor, 2008; Valadi et al., 2007). See also, the product description of ExoMir™ kit (Bioo Scientific Corp., Austin, Tex.).

In one embodiment, the extracted nucleic acid comprises RNA. In this instance, the RNA is preferably reverse-transcribed into complementary DNA (cDNA) before further amplification. Such reverse transcription may be performed alone or in combination with an amplification step. One example of a method combining reverse transcription and amplification steps is reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), which may be further modified to be quantitative, e.g., quantitative RT-PCR as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,606, which is incorporated herein by reference for this teaching. Another example of the method comprises two separate steps: a first of reverse transcription to convert RNA into cDNA and a second step of quantifying the amount of cDNA using quantitative PCR. As demonstrated in the examples that follow, the RNAs extracted from nucleic acid-containing particles using the methods disclosed herein include many species of transcripts including, but not limited to, the transcripts that correspond to those for GAPDH, BRAF, KLK3, EGFR, and ribosomal 18S rRNA.

Nucleic acid amplification methods include, without limitation, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) (U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,727) and its variants such as in situ polymerase chain reaction (U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,871), quantitative polymerase chain reaction (U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,727), nested polymerase chain reaction (U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,773), self-sustained sequence replication and its variants (Guatelli et al., 1990), transcriptional amplification system and its variants (Kwoh et al., 1989), Qb Replicase and its variants (Miele et al., 1983), cold-PCR (Li et al., 2008), BEAMing (Li et al., 2006) or any other nucleic acid amplification methods, followed by the detection of the amplified molecules using techniques well known to those of skill in the art. Especially useful are those detection schemes designed for the detection of nucleic acid molecules if such molecules are present in very low numbers. The foregoing references are incorporated herein for their teachings of these methods. In other embodiment, the step of nucleic acid amplification is not performed. Instead, the extract nucleic acids are analyzed directly, e.g., through next-generation sequencing.

The analysis of nucleic acids present in the isolated particles is quantitative and/or qualitative. For quantitative analysis, the amounts (expression levels), either relative or absolute, of specific nucleic acids of interest within the isolated particles are measured with methods known in the art (described below). For qualitative analysis, the species of specific nucleic acids of interest within the isolated particles, whether wild type or variants, are identified with methods known in the art.

The present invention also includes various uses of the new methods of nucleic acid extraction from a biological sample for (i) aiding in the diagnosis of a subject, (ii) monitoring the progress or reoccurrence of a disease or other medical condition in a subject, or (iii) aiding in the evaluation of treatment efficacy for a subject undergoing or contemplating treatment for a disease or other medical condition; wherein the presence or absence of one or more biomarkers in the nucleic acid extraction obtained from the method is determined, and the one or more biomarkers are associated with the diagnosis, progress or reoccurrence, or treatment efficacy, respectively, of a disease or other medical condition.

The one or more biomarkers can be one or a collection of genetic aberrations, which is used herein to refer to the nucleic acid amounts as well as nucleic acid variants within the nucleic acid-containing particles. Specifically, genetic aberrations include, without limitation, over-expression of a gene (e.g., an oncogene) or a panel of genes, under-expression of a gene (e.g., a tumor suppressor gene such as p53 or RB) or a panel of genes, alternative production of splice variants of a gene or a panel of genes, gene copy number variants (CNV) (e.g., DNA double minutes) (Hahn, 1993), nucleic acid modifications (e.g., methylation, acetylation and phosphorylations), single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), chromosomal rearrangements (e.g., inversions, deletions and duplications), and mutations (insertions, deletions, duplications, missense, nonsense, synonymous or any other nucleotide changes) of a gene or a panel of genes, which mutations, in many cases, ultimately affect the activity and function of the gene products, lead to alternative transcriptional splice variants and/or changes of gene expression level, or combinations of any of the foregoing.

The determination of such genetic aberrations can be performed by a variety of techniques known to the skilled practitioner. For example, expression levels of nucleic acids, alternative splicing variants, chromosome rearrangement and gene copy numbers can be determined by microarray analysis (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,913,879, 7,364,848, 7,378,245, 6,893,837 and 6,004,755) and quantitative PCR. Particularly, copy number changes may be detected with the Illumina Infinium II whole genome genotyping assay or Agilent Human Genome CGH Microarray (Steemers et al., 2006). Nucleic acid modifications can be assayed by methods described in, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 7,186,512 and patent publication WO/2003/023065. Particularly, methylation profiles may be determined by Illumina DNA Methylation OMA003 Cancer Panel. SNPs and mutations can be detected by hybridization with allele-specific probes, enzymatic mutation detection, chemical cleavage of mismatched heteroduplex (Cotton et al., 1988), ribonuclease cleavage of mismatched bases (Myers et al., 1985), mass spectrometry (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,994,960, 7,074,563, and 7,198,893), nucleic acid sequencing, single strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) (Orita et al., 1989), denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE)(Fischer and Lerman, 1979a; Fischer and Lerman, 1979b), temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TGGE) (Fischer and Lerman, 1979a; Fischer and Lerman, 1979b), restriction fragment length polymorphisms (RFLP) (Kan and Dozy, 1978a; Kan and Dozy, 1978b), oligonucleotide ligation assay (OLA), allele-specific PCR (ASPCR) (U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,611), ligation chain reaction (LCR) and its variants (Abravaya ct al., 1995; Landegren et al., 1988; Nakazawa et al., 1994), flow-cytometric heteroduplex analysis (WO/2006/113590) and combinations/modifications thereof. Notably, gone expression levels may be determined by the serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) technique (Velculescu et al., 1995). In general, the methods for analyzing genetic aberrations are reported in numerous publications, not limited to those cited herein, and are available to skilled practitioners. The appropriate method of analysis will depend upon the specific goals of the analysis, the condition/history of the patient, and the specific cancer(s), diseases or other medical conditions to be detected, monitored or treated. The forgoing references are incorporated herein for their teaching of these methods.

Many biomarkers may be associated with the presence or absence of a disease or other medical condition in a subject. Therefore, detection of the presence or absence of such biomarkers in a nucleic acid extraction from isolated particles, according to the methods disclosed herein, may aid diagnosis of the disease or other medical condition in the subject. For example, as described in WO 2009/100029, detection of the presence or absence of the EGFRvIII mutation in nucleic acids extracted from microvesicles isolated from a patient serum sample may aid in the diagnosis and/or monitoring of glioblastoma in the patient. This is so because the expression of the EGFRvIII mutation is specific to some tumors and defines a clinically distinct subtype of glioma (Pelloski et al., 2007). For another example, as described in WO 2009/100029, detection of the presence or absence of the TMPRSS2-ERG fusion gene and/or PCA-3 in nucleic acids extracted from microvesicles isolated from a patient urine sample may aid in the diagnosis of prostate cancer in the patient.

Further, many biomarkers may help disease or medical status monitoring in a subject. Therefore, the detection of the presence or absence of such biomarkers in a nucleic acid extraction from isolated particles, according to the methods disclosed herein, may aid in monitoring the progress or reoccurrence of a disease or other medical condition in a subject. For example, as described in WO 2009/100029, the determination of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) levels in nucleic acids extracted from microvesicles isolated from an organ transplantation patient may help to monitor the post-transplantation condition, as a significant increase in the expression level of MMP-2 after kidney transplantation may indicate the onset and/or deterioration of post-transplantation complications. Similarly, a significantly elevated level of MMP-9 after lung transplantation, suggests the onset and/or deterioration of bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome.

Many biomarkers have also been found to influence the effectiveness of treatment in a particular patient. Therefore, the detection of the presence or absence of such biomarkers in a nucleic acid extraction from isolated particles, according to the methods disclosed herein, may aid in evaluating the efficacy of a given treatment in a given patient. For example, as disclosed in Table 1 in the publication by Furnari et. al. (Furnari et al., 2007), biomarkers, e.g., mutations in a variety of genes, affect the effectiveness of specific medicines used in chemotherapy for treating brain tumors. The identification of these biomarkers in nucleic acids extracted from isolated particles from a biological sample from a patient may guide the selection of treatment for the patient.

One aspect of the present invention is further directed to a kit for use in the new methods disclosed herein. The kit is comprised of the following components: RNase inhibitor in quantity sufficient to mitigate adverse factors that prevent or might prevent high quality nucleic acid extraction; RNA purification reagent; optionally, lysis buffer; optionally, DNase; and optionally, instructions for using the foregoing reagents in the extraction of nucleic acids from isolated particles. The RNA purification reagent helps to purify the released nucleic acids. The lysis buffer helps to break open microvesicles so that their nucleic acid contents are released. The use of DNase may help enhance the quality of the extracted nucleic acids. The inclusion of DNase is optional because DNase digestion may sometimes be carried out on a nucleic acid purification column, as described in the second example under the section “Particle isolation and nucleic acid extraction from serum samples.” The kit may also comprise instructions that detail the steps as appropriate for using the kit components in connection with the extraction of nucleic acids from isolated particles.

It should be understood that this invention is not limited to the particular methodologies, protocols and reagents, described herein, which may vary. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present invention, which is defined solely by the claims.

Examples of the disclosed subject matter are set forth below. Other features, objects, and advantages of the disclosed subject matter will be apparent from the detailed description, figures, examples and claims. Methods and materials substantially similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the presently disclosed subject matter. Exemplary methods and materials are now described as follows.

Example 1

We obtained a 1 ml frozen serum sample from a normal, healthy human volunteer. The serum sample was filtered through a 0.8 μm filter (Millipore) and the filtrate was then stored at −80° C. for 24 hours. When the sample was thawed, 8 μl SuperaseIn was added. The sample was then centrifuged at 20,000 g (Hettich microcentrifuge) for 0.5 hour at 4° C. in an angle head rotor. The supernatant was removed and discarded. The pellet was re-suspended in 1.5 ml PBS and re-centrifuged at 20,000 g for another 0.5 hour. The supernatant was then removed and discarded. The pellet was treated with 8 μl SuperascIn (20 units/μl) for 1 minute and then re-suspended in RLT buffer plus 10 μl/ml betamercaptoethanol and processed using the Qiagen RNeasy Plus kit which features a DNA removal column. The nucleic acids were eluted in 16 μl nuclease-free H₂O.

We examined the quality of the extracted nucleic acids using an RNA Pico Chip on an Agilent Bioanalyzer. As shown in FIG. 1A, we detected the presence of the 18S and 28S rRNA in the extraction. The RNA Integrity Number (RIN), as calculated by the Bioanalyzer's software, was 8.5. In addition, in the extracted nucleic acids, we detected the presence of RNAs corresponding to the GAPDH, BRAF, and 18S RNA genes. We used 12 μl of the extracted RNA and reverse transcribed the RNA into cDNA using a Sensiscript kit (Qiagen). We then used 2 μl of the resulting cDNA product as templates to perform Real-time PCR. The primers used for the RT-PCR are commercially available from Applied Biosystems, as follows: Human GAPDH (part number 4326317E); BRAF (part number Hs00269944_m1); 18S rRNA (part number Hs99999901_s1). Each sample was run in triplicate on the PCR plate. The Ct values from the RT-PCR investigation are presented as average±SD. The Ct values for GAPDH, BRAF and 18S rRNA are 30.84±0.08, 36.76±0.22, and 15.09±0.21, respectively.

Therefore, using the new method, we were able to isolate nucleic acid-containing particles from serum samples. The nucleic acids extracted from the pelleted particles contained 18S and 28S rRNA. The quality of the nucleic acids produced a RIN of 8.5. Further, the extracted nucleic acids contain RNAs corresponding to at least GAPDH, BRAF and 18S rRNA genes, suggesting that the extracted nucleic acids from serum particles may include RNAs corresponding to many other genes.

Example 2

We obtained a 1 ml frozen serum sample from the same normal, healthy human volunteer as in Example 1 and filtered the serum through a 0.8 μm filter (Millipore) and the filtrate was then stored at −80° C. for 24 hours. The frozen sample was thawed on ice, and transferred into a 1.5 ml Eppendorf tube containing 8 μl SuperaseIn (Ambion Inc.). After the 20,000 g, 0.5 hour centrifugation step, the supernatant was set aside for further extraction as detailed in Example 3 below. The pellet was used for nucleic acid extraction employing a modified miRNeasy RNA extraction protocol. This modified protocol was more efficient at capturing the small RNAs (e.g., less than 200 nucleotides) than the manufacturer's protocol contained in the RNeasy Plus kit used in Example 1.

In this modified protocol, we used a mixture of DNAse/SuperaseIn to treat the pellet (TURBO DNA-Free™ kit, Ambion). The DNase could be optionally replaced by an on-column DNase step following the miRNeasy protocol. This treatment removed most DNA, including DNA potentially coming from inside the isolated particles. These DNA may affect RNA integrity when the extracted RNA quantity is very small. If on-column DNase treatment is selected, the pellet is treated with 8 μL SuperaseIn in 42 μL PBS. The mixture of DNase and SuperaseIn RNase inhibitor in this particular sample was made according to the following scheme. DNase 1 and DNase buffer is from TURBO DNA-Free™ kit from Ambion. SuperaseIn was at a concentration of 20 units/μL.

Per Sample:

DNase 1 2 μL DNase buffer (10X) 5 μL SuperaseIn 8 μL 1xPBS 35 μL  50 μL 

The pellet was mixed with 50 μL of the DNase/SuperaseIn mixture as mentioned above and incubated at room temperature for 20 min in the centrifuge tube. Then 700 μl Qiazol lysis buffer (Qiagen) was added to each sample in the centrifuge tube and mixed by pipetting up and down 15 times to dissolve/re-suspend the pellet. The suspended pellet mixture was immediately transferred to an Eppendorf tube. Further nucleic acid extraction was then performed in a PCR hood. The tube with the pellet mixture was vortexed briefly and incubated at room temperature for 2-4 minutes before 140 μl chloroform was added into the tube containing the mixture. The tube was then capped, shaken vigorously for 20 seconds, incubated at room temperature for 2-3 minutes, and centrifuged for 15 minutes at 12,000 g at 4° C. The upper aqueous phase was transferred to a new collection tube into which, 1.5 volumes (usually 600 μl) of 100% ethanol was added and mixed thoroughly by pipetting up and down several times.

Up to 700 μl of the ethanol mixture, including any precipitate that may have formed, was transferred into an RNeasy Micro spin column (MinElute column stored @+4° C., the column comes with the RNeasy Micro kit) which was inserted in a 2 ml collection tube as supplied by the manufacturer, and centrifuged at 1000 g for 15 second at room temperature. The flow-through was discarded. The centrifugation step was repeated until all the remaining mixture had been added. Again, the flow-through was discarded. The nucleic acids on the column were then washed three times as follows: 1) 700 μL Buffer RWT was added onto the RNeasy MinElute spin column and centrifuged for 15 seconds at 8500 g to wash the column with the flow-through discarded; 2) 500 μL Buffer RPE was added onto the RNeasy MinElute spin column and centrifuged for 15 seconds at 8500 g to wash the column with the flow-through discarded; 3) repeat the Buffer RPE wash step except that the column was centrifuged for 2 minutes at 8500 g to dry the RNeasy Mini spin column membrane.

After the washing steps, the RNeasyMinElute spin column was inserted into a new 2 ml collection tube and centrifuged at 14000 g for 5 minutes to further dry the column membrane. The dried column was inserted into another new 1.5 ml collection tube and 16 μL RNase-free water was added onto the dried column membrane and incubated for 1 minute at room temperature. The nucleic acids were eluted by centrifugation for 1 minute at 8500 g. The volume of the eluted nucleic acids was about 14 μl.

We analyzed the profile of the extracted nucleic acids. As shown in FIG. 1B, we detected peaks corresponding to 18S and 28S rRNAs, as well as peaks corresponding to small RNAs with sizes between 25 and 200 nucleotides. In addition, in the extracted nucleic acids, we detected the presence of RNAs corresponding to the GAPDH, BRAF, 18S RNA, and EGFR genes. We used 12 μl of the extracted RNA and reverse transcribed the RNA into cDNA using VILO™ kit (Invitrogen). The reverse transcription reaction mixture was made according to the following scheme (Table 1).

TABLE 1 Reverse transcription reaction mixture scheme. (μl) × 1 reaction ×4.4 5X VILO ™ Reaction Mix 4 17.6 10X Superscript ® Enzyme 2 8.8 Mix RNA (up to 2.5 μg) 12 — Nuclease free water 2 8.8 Total volume 20

The reverse transcription was performed in a verity PCR machine under the following conditions: 25° C. for 10 minutes, 42° C. for 70 minutes, 85° C. for 5 minutes, and was held in 4° C. before the reaction was stored at −20° C.

We then used 1 μl of the resulting cDNA product as templates to perform Real-time PCR. The primers used for the RT-PCR are commercially available from Applied Biosystems, as follows: Human GAPDH (part number 4326317E); BRAF (part number Hs00269944_m1); 18S rRNA (part number Hs99999901_s1); EGFR (part number HS01076088_m1). We repeated the real time-PCR experiments two times for each gene. The Ct values are shown in Table 2.

Therefore, using the new method as disclosed in this invention, we were able to isolate nucleic acid-containing particles from a serum sample. The nucleic acids extracted from the isolated particles contained 18S and 28S rRNA, as well as small RNAs. Further, the extracted nucleic acids contained RNAs for at least GAPDH, BRAF and 18S rRNA genes, suggesting that the extracted nucleic acids from serum particles may include RNAs corresponding to many other genes.

TABLE 2 The Ct values for the four genes GAPDH, BRAF, 18S rRNA, and EGFR. Gene Ct value GAPDH 31.12 31.07 BRAF 33.29 34.84 18S rRNA 16.48 16.46 EGFR 37.05 —

Example 3

We started with the supernatant obtained in Example 2 after centrifuging the 1 ml serum sample at 20,000 g for 0.5 hour. The supernatant was further ultracentrifuged at 120,000 g for 80 minutes at 4-8° C. (Optima Max-XP Benchtop ultracentrifuge from Beckman). The deceleration was set at 7. Nucleic acids were then extracted from the pellet following the same protocol as detailed above in Example 2 starting from a treatment with DNase and SuperaseIn mixture. We analyzed the profile of the extracted nucleic acids, and performed reverse transcription and real time PCR analysis of the same four genes as in Example 2.

As shown in FIG. 1C, more small RNAs were seen in the extracted nucleic acids. The peaks between 25 and 200 nucleotides were higher than those in the FIG. 1B. Further the peaks shifted left in the interval between 25 and 200 nucleotides, suggesting the percentage of smaller RNAs was higher than the percentage seen in the extraction from Example 2.

As in Example 2, we also detected the RNAs corresponding to the four genes GAPDH, BRAF, 18S rRNA, and EGFR. The Ct values are shown in Table 3.

TABLE 3 The Ct values for the four genes GAPDH, BRAF, 18S rRNA, and EGFR. Gene Ct value GAPDH 34.71 34.97 BRAF — 37.18 18S rRNA 21.07 21.13 EGFR 32.8 31.83

Therefore, we were able to isolate nucleic acid-containing particles from the supernatant obtained in Example 2 after serum centrifugation at 20,000 g for 0.5 hour. The nucleic acids extracted from the particles pelleted from the supernatant contained more abundant small RNAs than the nucleic acids extracted from the particles initially pelleted in Example 2. Further, the extracted nucleic acids contained RNAs for at least GAPDH, BRAF and 18S rRNA genes, suggesting that the extracted nucleic acids from supernatant may include RNAs corresponding to many other genes.

Example 4

We started with a 24 ml serum sample from a healthy normal volunteer. The serum sample was filtered through a 0.8 m filter (Millipore) and the filtrate was then stored at −80° C. for 24 hours. The 24 ml serum sample was thawed and transferred into 24 tubes with 1 ml in each tube. Into each tube 8 μl SuperaseIn was then added and mixed with the serum sample.

We separated the 24 tubes into two groups each consisting of 12 tubes: group A and group B. For group A, the serum samples were centrifuged at 20,000 g for 0.5 hour and the pellet was used for nucleic acid extraction employing a modified miRNeasy RNA extraction protocol as described in Example 2. For group B, the serum samples were centrifuged at 120,000 g for 80 minutes and the pellet was used for nucleic acid extraction employing a modified miRNeasy RNA extraction protocol as described in Example 2.

We analyzed the profile of the extracted nucleic acids in both group A and group B. As shown in FIG. 3 (group A) and FIG. 4 (group B), we detected peaks corresponding to 18S and 28S rRNAs, as well as peaks corresponding to small RNAs with sizes between 25 and 300 nucleotides in both groups. The ratio of 28S rRNA over 18S rRNA was 0.9 and 1.2 for group A and group B, respectively.

We further detected the expression of many genes in the RNA extracted from both groups. The RNA extracted from particles pelleted from each of the serum samples was each reversed transcribed into cDNA using the VILO™ kit from Invitrogen as described in Example 2, and then analyzed using the TaqMan® array 96 Human Cell Surface Markers PCR plate from Applied Biosystems according to the manufacturer's protocol.

The Applied Biosystems assay IDs in the 96 Human Cell Surface Markers Taqman® PCR Array are shown in Table 4.

TABLE 4 Applied Biosystems assay IDs in the 96 Human Cell Surface Markers Taqman ® PCR Array ID 1 2 3 4 5 6 A Hs99999901_s1 Hs99999905_m1 Hs99999909_m1 Hs99999908_m1 Hs99999903_m1 Hs99999907_m1 B Hs00233455_m1 Hs00704891_s1 Hs00199894_m1 Hs00174705_m1 Hs99999192_m1 Hs00233332_m1 C Hs00175568_m1 Hs00609515_m1 Hs00174796_m1 Hs01099648_m1 Hs01120071_m1 Hs00174158_m1 D Hs00156390_m1 Hs00934033_m1 Hs00196191_m1 Hs00174297_m1 Hs00233564_m1 Hs00269961_m1 E Hs00174762_m1 Hs00175524_m1 Hs01556595_m1 Hs00164004_m1 Hs01028971_m1 Hs00153398_m1 F Hs01077044_m1 Hs00417598_m1 Hs01058806 g1 Hs00219575_m1 Hs00609563_m1 Hs01106578_m1 G Hs00970273_g1 Hs00233844_m1 Hs01920599_gH Hs00361185_m1 Hs02339473_g1 Hs00544819_m1 H Hs00169777_m1 Hs00220767_m1 Hs00374264_g1 Hs00927900_m1 Hs00949382_m1 Hs00158980_m1 ID 7 8 9 10 11 12 A Hs99999902_m1 Hs00609297_m1 Hs99999910_m1 Hs99999906_m1 Hs00824723_m1 Hs99999904_m1 B Hs00233509_m1 Hs00939888_m1 Hs00233515_m1 Hs01588349_m1 Hs00233533_m1 Hs02379687_s1 C Hs00962186_m1 Hs00181217_m1 Hs99999100_s1 Hs00163934_m1 Hs00204397_m1 Hs00198752_m1 D Hs00998119_m1 Hs00236881_m1 Hs00175478_m1 Hs00188486_m1 Hs01567025_m1 Hs00233520_m1 E Hs00911250_m1 Hs03044418_m1 Hs00175210_m1 Hs00923996_m1 Hs00236330_m1 Hs00758600_m1 F Hs01030384_m1 Hs00907778_m1 Hs00235006_m1 Hs00158127_m1 Hs01076873_m1 Hs00174469_m1 G Hs00292551_m1 Hs00159522_m1 Hs00538076_m1 Hs00941830_m1 Hs00167166_m1 Hs01573922_m1 H Hs00945155_m1 Hs00533968_m1 Hs00174277_m1 Hs02576518_gH Hs01003372_m1 Hs00169795_m1

The gene symbols in the 96 Human Cell Surface Markers Taqman® PCR Array are shown in Table 5.

TABLE 5 Gene symbols corresponding to the 96 Human Cell Surface Markers Taqman ® PCR Array Sym- bol 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 A 18S GAPDH HPRT1 GUSB ACTB B2M RPLP0 HMBS TBP PGK1 UBC PP1A B ALCAM C5AR1 CD160 CD163 CD19 CD1A CD1C CD1D CD2 CD209 CD22 CD24 C CD244 CD247 CD28 CD37 CD38 CD3D CD3G CD4 CD40 CD40LG CD5 CD6 D CD63 CD69 CD7 CD70 CD72 CD74 CD79A CD79B CD80 CD83 CD86 CD8A E CD8B CD96 CHST10 COL1A1 COL1A2 CR2 CSF1R CTLA4 DPP4 ENG FAS FCER1A F FCER2 FCGR1A; HLA- HLA- ICAM2 IL1R2B1 IL1R2 IL2RA ITGA1 ITGA2 ITGA3 KLRB1 FCGR1B; A; HLA- DRA FCGR1C A29.1 G KLRC1 KLRD1 KRT18 KRT5 KRT8, MS4A1 MYH10 MYH9 MYOCD NCAM1 NOS3 NT5E LOC728638 H PECAM1 RETN S100A8 SELP ST6GAL1 EPCAM TEK TNFRSF4 TNFRSF8 TPSAB1; VCAM1 VWF TPSB2

As shown in Table 6, we detected expression for most of the genes on the array. The expression levels are represented in Ct values.

TABLE 6 Gene expression levels in particles from each serum sample. CT CT Well Target Gene Name (Group A) (Group B) A1 18S-Hs99999901_s1 12.14 12.06 A2 GAPDH-Hs99999905_m1 26.47 26.18 A3 HPRT1-Hs99999909_m1 31.18 30.95 A4 GUSB-Hs99999908_m1 33.21 32.77 A5 ACTB-Hs99999903_m1 25.09 25.14 A6 B2M-Hs99999907_m1 22.32 22.30 A7 RPLP0-Hs99999902_m1 25.38 24.97 A8 HMBS-Hs00609297_m1 32.67 32.42 A9 TBP-Hs99999910_m1 33.51 32.85 A10 PGK1-Hs99999906_m1 28.39 28.38 A11 UBC-Hs00824723_m1 27.28 27.30 A12 PPIA-Hs99999904_m1 26.57 26.47 B1 ALCAM-Hs00233455_m1 35.85 34.58 B2 C5AR1-Hs00704891_s1 28.27 28.29 B3 CD160-Hs00199894_m1 34.93 34.82 B4 CD163-Hs00174705_m1 34.85 35.00 B5 CD19-Hs99999192_m1 33.76 33.24 B6 CD1A-Hs00233332_m1 Undeter- Undeter- mined mined B7 CD1C-Hs00233509_m1 35.13 34.70 B8 CD1D-Hs00939888_m1 33.79 34.10 B9 CD2-Hs00233515_m1 30.91 30.90 B10 CD209-Hs01588349_m1 37.52 Undeter- mined B11 CD22-Hs00233533_m1 29.82 29.99 B12 CD24-Hs02379687_s1 30.55 30.25 C1 CD244-Hs00175568_m1 30.85 31.50 C2 CD247-Hs00609515_m1 30.64 30.44 C3 CD28-Hs00174796_m1 33.23 32.94 C4 CD37-Hs01099648_m1 30.59 30.41 C5 CD38-Hs01120071_m1 34.69 34.30 C6 CD3D-Hs00174158_m1 30.58 30.36 C7 CD3G-Hs00962186_m1 31.54 31.48 C8 CD4-Hs00181217_m1 33.24 33.65 C9 CD40-Hs99999100_s1 33.08 33.12 C10 CD40LG-Hs00163934_m1 33.71 33.64 C11 CD5-Hs00204397_m1 33.41 33.91 C12 CD6-Hs00198752_m1 33.47 33.99 D1 CD63-Hs00156390_m1 29.62 29.15 D2 CD69-Hs00934033_m1 32.52 32.32 D3 CD7-Hs00196191_m1 31.64 31.83 D4 CD70-Hs00174297_m1 36.99 38.20 D5 CD72-Hs00233564_m1 32.82 32.68 D6 CD74-Hs00269961_m1 28.93 28.71 D7 CD79A-Hs00998119_m1 31.48 31.20 D8 CD79B-Hs00236881_m1 31.93 32.11 D9 CD80-Hs00175478_m1 37.80 Undeter- mined D10 CD83-Hs00188486_m1 33.11 31.97 D11 CD86-Hs01567025_m1 35.40 35.20 D12 CD8A-Hs00233520_m1 31.38 31.89 E1 CD8B-Hs00174762_m1 33.93 33.52 E2 CD96-Hs00175524_m1 34.14 33.82 E3 CHST10-Hs01556595_m1 37.54 Undeter- mined E4 COL1A1-Hs00164004_m1 Undeter- Undeter- mined mined E5 COL1A2-Hs01028971_m1 36.61 Undeter- mined E6 CR2-Hs00153398_m1 35.31 34.87 E7 CSF1R-Hs00911250_m1 37.17 36.63 E8 CTLA4-Hs03044418_m1 36.24 37.17 E9 DPP4-Hs00175210_m1 33.75 34.37 E10 ENG-Hs00923996_m1 32.34 31.41 E11 FAS-Hs00236330_m1 33.77 33.55 E12 FCER1A-Hs00758600_m1 37.26 37.73 F1 FCER2-Hs01077044_m1 34.15 33.91 F2 FCGR1A; FCGR1B; FCGR1C- 33.29 32.87 Hs00417598_m1 F3 HLA-A; HLA-A29.1- 27.51 27.40 Hs01058806_g1 F4 HLA-DRA-Hs00219575_m1 27.75 27.69 F5 ICAM2-Hs00609563_m1 30.65 30.61 F6 IL12RB1-Hs01106578_m1 32.77 32.87 F7 IL1R2-Hs01030384_m1 32.45 31.97 F8 IL2RA-Hs00907778_m1 35.00 34.78 F9 ITGA1-Hs00235006_m1 31.78 32.76 F10 ITGA2-Hs00158127_m1 37.80 Undeter- mined F11 ITGA3-Hs01076873_m1 37.20 37.14 F12 KLRB1-Hs00174469_m1 28.43 28.37 G1 KLRC1-Hs00970273_g1 34.15 35.50 G2 KLRD1-Hs00233844_m1 31.96 32.27 G3 KRT18-Hs01920599_gH 32.59 31.41 G4 KRT5-Hs00361185_m1 37.99 Undeter- mined G5 KRT8; LOC728638- Undeter- 38.60 Hs02339473_g1 mined G6 MS4A1-Hs00544819_m1 30.92 31.20 G7 MYH10-Hs00292551_m1 35.32 34.88 G8 MYH9-Hs00159522_m1 26.30 26.40 G9 MYOCD-Hs00538076_m1 Undeter- Undeter- mined mined G10 NCAM1-Hs00941830_m1 36.99 35.55 G11 NOS3-Hs00167166_m1 37.07 36.85 G12 NT5E-Hs01573922_m1 33.57 33.26 H1 PECAM1-Hs00169777_m1 30.28 30.28 H2 RETN-Hs00220767_m1 35.14 35.08 H3 S100A8-Hs00374264_g1 25.88 25.40 H4 SELP-Hs00927900_m1 30.85 30.65 H5 ST6GAL1-Hs00949382_m1 31.55 31.57 H6 EPCAM-Hs00158980_m1 37.58 36.23 H7 TEK-Hs00945155_m1 30.68 32.30 H8 TNFRSF4-Hs00533968_m1 33.96 35.10 H9 TNFRSF8-Hs00174277_m1 35.19 34.99 H10 TPSAB1; TPSB2- Undeter- Undeter- Hs02576518_gH mined mined H11 VCAM1-Hs01003372_m1 36.27 34.87 H12 VWF-Hs00169795_m1 36.39 35.45

We compared the Ct values between the two groups for each of the genes tested and found that the mRNA content in the two groups was very similar. Therefore, we were able to isolate nucleic acid-containing particles from the serum sample by centrifugation at either 20,000 g for 0.5 hour or 120,000 g for 80 minutes. The nucleic acids extracted from the isolated particles contained both 18S and 28S rRNA. In addition, the mRNA content obtained with a 20,000 g centrifugation speed was similar to the mRNA content obtained with a 120,000 g centrifugation speed. Further, the extracted nucleic acids from each of the pellets contained mRNAs corresponding to most of the genes tested using the Taqman array.

Example 5: Particle Isolation and Nucleic Acid Extraction from Urine Samples

We started with a 10 ml spot urine sample from normal, healthy human volunteers. The sample had been stored at 4° C. for a week. The urine sample was filtered through 0.8 μm filters (Nalgene). The filtrate was then centrifuged at 20,000 g for 1 hour at 4° C. in an angle head rotor. The supernatant was removed and discarded. The pellets were lysed in RLT buffer plus 10 μl/ml betamercaptoethanol and processed using the Qiagen RNeasy Plus kit. The nucleic acids were eluted in 16 μl nuclease-free H₂O.

We examined the quality of the extracted nucleic acids using an Agilent Bioanalyzer. As shown in FIG. 2, we detected the presence of the 18S and 28S rRNA in the extractions. The RNA Integrity Number (RIN), as calculated by the Bioanalyzer's software, was 9.1. In addition, in the extracted nucleic acids, we detected the presence of RNAs corresponding to the GAPDH, KLK3, and 18S RNA genes. We reverse transcribed 12 μl of the extracted RNA into cDNA using a Sensiscript kit (Qiagen). We then used 2 μl of the resulting cDNA product as templates to perform Real-time PCR. The primers used for the RT-PCR are commercially available from Applied Biosystems, as follows: Human GAPDH (part number 4326317E); KLK3 (part number Hs03063374_m1); 18S rRNA (part number Hs99999901_s1). Each sample was run in triplicate on the PCR plate. The Ct values from the RT-PCR investigation are presented as average±SD. The Ct values for GAPDH, KLK3 and 18S rRNA are 26.96±0.02, 30.18±0.01, and 12.22±0.15, respectively.

Therefore, using the new method as disclosed in this invention, we were able to isolate nucleic acid-containing particles from urine samples. The nucleic acids extracted from the pelleted particles contained 18S and 28S rRNA. The quality of the nucleic acids produced a RIN of 9.1. Further, the extracted nucleic acids contain RNAs for at least GAPDH, KLK3 and 18S rRNA genes, suggesting that the extracted nucleic acids from urine particles may include RNAs corresponding to many other genes.

While the present invention has been disclosed with reference to certain embodiments, numerous modifications, alterations, and changes to the described embodiments are possible without departing from the full scope of the invention, as described in the appended specification and claims.

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The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for extracting nucleic acids from a biological sample from a subject, comprising the steps of: a. isolating microvesicles comprising exosomes from the biological sample by one or more centrifugation procedures to pellet the microvesicles from the biological sample, wherein none of the centrifugation procedures are performed at a speed exceeding about 20,000 g, and wherein none of the centrifugation procedures use nanomembrane ultrafiltration concentration; and b. extracting nucleic acids from the isolated, pelleted microvesicles comprising exosomes, wherein 18S and 28S rRNAs are detectable in the extracted nucleic acids, and wherein the ratio of the amount of 18S rRNA to the amount of 28S rRNA, as detected in the extracted nucleic acids, is about 0.5 to about 1.0.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the biological sample is a body fluid.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the body fluid is a serum, urine, or spinal fluid sample from the subject.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the subject is a human or other mammal.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the extracted nucleic acids comprise RNA, DNA, or both RNA and DNA.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the extracted nucleic acids comprise one or more nucleic acids having a sequence more than 90% homologous to the nucleic acid sequence corresponding to any of the genes consisting of EGFR, BRAF, KLK3, 18S, GAPDH, HPRT1, GUSB, ACTB, B2M, RPLP0, HMBS, TBP, PGK1, UBC, PPIA, ALCAM, C5AR1, CD160, CD163, CD19, CD1A, CD1C, CD1D, CD2, CD209, CD22, CD24, CD244, CD247, CD28, CD37, CD38, CD3D, CD3G, CD4, CD40, CD4OLG, CDS, CD6, CD63, CD69, CD7, CD70, CD72, CD74, CD79A, CD79B, CD80, CD83, CD86, CD8A, CD8B, CD96, CHST10, COLIA1, COL1A2, CR2, CSF1R, CTLA4, DPP4, ENG, FAS, FCER1A, FCER2, FCGR1A/FCGR1B/FCGR1C, HLA-A/HLA-A29.1, HLA-DRA, ICAM2, IL 12RB1, IL1R2, IL2RA, ITGA1, ITGA2, ITGA3, KLRB1, KLRC1, KLRD1, KRT18, KRT5, KRT8/LOC728638, MS4A1, MYH10, MYH9, MYOCD, NCAM1, NOS3, NT5E, PECAM1, RETN, S100A8, SELP, ST6GAL1, EPCAM, TEK, TNFRSF4, TNFRSF8, TPSAB1/TPSB2, VCAM1, or VWF.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the ratio of the amount of 18S rRNA to the amount of 28S rRNA, as detected in the extracted nucleic acids, is about 0.5.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising treating the biological sample and/or the isolated microvesicles with DNase, RNase inhibitor, or DNase and RNase inhibitor.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising treating the biological sample with RNase inhibitor before isolating the microvesicles. 